On April 19, 1989, while jogging in New York's Central Park, 28-year-old investment banker Trisha Meili was raped, beaten, and left near death. Meili suffered severe blood loss and a skull fracture, and was expected to remain in a coma. She later recovered, but with no memory of the attack.
Media coverage of the Central Park Jogger case was clamorous, with many commenters using the assault on Meili as a metaphor for urban issues involving crime, race, and gender. Five black teenagers were convicted of the crime in 1990, after a controversial trial in which the youths claimed that police had coerced confessions from them. In 2002, the convicted murderer and rapist Matias Reyes, who was serving a life sentence for other crimes, confessed to being the only perpetrator of the attack. DNA evidence confirmed Mathias's account, and the convictions of the five prior defendants were vacated.
Meili was reportedly in seclusion, and her identity was largely withheld from the public, from the date of the crime until 2003, when her book, I Am the Central Park Jogger was published. Meili now works as a motivational speaker.
Fast Facts:
- Born: June 24, 1960
- Raised in New Jersey and Pittsburgh
- Worked at the Wall Street investment bank Salomon Brothers
